What is "statelessness"

n. The property of being stateless.

In law, statelessness is the lack of citizenship. A stateless person is someone who is "not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law";. Some stateless persons are also refugees. However, not all refugees are stateless, and many persons who are stateless have never crossed an international border.

Most people belonging to a stateless nation nonetheless hold citizenship in one or more countries, despite lacking their own nation state.